08/28/2026
As your pastor, understand this: I love you, but I do not get behind this pulpit to host you.
The church was never meant to gather just to satisfy people.
We gather to host the presence of our God.
My agenda does not matter.
My wants do not matter.
My preferences do not matter.
We are not here to satisfy man.
We have gathered to satisfy the King.
Saints, when we step through the doors of the church, we ought to come in Kingdom-minded, Kingdom-focused, and Kingdom-driven.
This cannot be about what I want.
It cannot be about what song I want to hear.
It cannot be about how long I want the service to last.
It cannot be about what time I want to leave.
It cannot be about whether everything happens the way I prefer.
The question should be:
“Lord, what do You want?”
Because if we truly want to enter into His presence, we have to die to self first.
Jesus said in Luke 9:23 NLT:
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”
Giving up your own way means:
My will — surrendered to His will.
My schedule — surrendered to His schedule.
My desires — surrendered to His desires.
My wants — surrendered to what He wants.
We cannot come into the house of God saying, “Lord, You have until twelve o’clock.”
We cannot say, “Lord, You can move, but do not interrupt my plans.”
We cannot say, “Lord, have Your way,” and then become uncomfortable when He actually starts having His way.
If He is truly King, then He gets to set the agenda.
Worship is not about God pleasing us.
Worship is us laying ourselves before Him and saying, “King Jesus, You are worthy.”
Sometimes the greatest hindrance to experiencing the presence of God is not the devil.
Sometimes it is us refusing to get out of the way.
Our pride has to die.
Our preferences have to die.
Our timetable has to die.
Our need to be comfortable has to die.
Because you cannot remain on the throne of your own life and ask Jesus to sit there too.
Somebody has to get off the throne.
And if Jesus is Lord—
it has to be me.
So when I walk into the house of God, my prayer should be:
“Lord, this is Your house.
This is Your service.
These are Your people.
This is Your time.
Have Your way.”
We did not gather to host personalities.
We gathered to host His presence.
We did not gather to impress people.
We gathered to honor the King.
And when the King walks into the room, everything else ought to become secondary.
My plans can wait.
My schedule can wait.
My preferences can wait.
Because the presence of the King is worth whatever I have to lay down.
The question is not whether God wants to meet with us.
The question is whether we are willing to surrender enough room for Him to have His way.
Because God is not looking for a church that just knows how to schedule a service.
He is looking for a people who know how to surrender a service.
There is a difference.
You can schedule three songs.
You can schedule the offering.
You can schedule the preaching.
You can schedule the altar call.
But you cannot schedule the move of God.
You can prepare for it.
You can make room for it.
You can position yourself for it.
But when He begins to move, you have to be willing to let Him lead.
That is where dying to self becomes real.
Because dying to self sounds good until God interrupts your plans.
Dying to self sounds good until He stretches the service longer than you expected.
Dying to self sounds good until He asks you to worship when you do not feel like worshiping.
Dying to self sounds good until He tells you to forgive somebody you would rather stay angry with.
Dying to self sounds good until He asks you to let go of something you have been holding onto.
That is why Jesus did not say, “Take up your comfort.”
He said:
“Take up your cross daily and follow Me.”
The cross is a place of surrender.
The cross is where my will dies so His will can live through me.
And church, we need to understand something:
You cannot have resurrection without first having a death.
Before there can be new life, something old has to die.
Before God can fill the room, sometimes our flesh has to get out of the room.
Before His agenda can take over, ours has to be laid down.
Before His voice becomes the loudest voice, we have to quiet every other voice fighting for our attention.
That is why Paul said in Galatians 2:20 NLT:
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
That is Kingdom living.
Kingdom living says:
“It is no longer about me.”
It is not about my preference.
It is not about my comfort.
It is not about my recognition.
It is not about whether somebody notices me.
It is not about whether I get my way.
It is about whether Jesus gets His way.
And when a church ever gets to the place where everybody in the room decides, “I do not care who gets the credit, I just want Jesus to get the glory,” then we have created room for something powerful to happen.
Because God does not share His glory with our ego.
He does not share His throne with our flesh.
And He does not need our permission to be God.
What He is looking for is surrender.
A surrendered church says:
“Lord, if You want to heal, heal.”
“If You want to deliver, deliver.”
“If You want to convict, convict.”
“If You want us to stay at this altar, we will stay.”
“If You want us to worship, we will worship.”
“If You want us to be quiet before You, we will be quiet.”
“Whatever You want, Lord — this belongs to You.”
That is when church stops becoming something we attend.
And it becomes an encounter we surrender to.
